Inky Hearts and Star Filled Eyes
by PocketRamblr
Summary: Rey did not have a soulmate- at least not one who tried to communicate with her. Sometimes she would think about it, consider using an old ink pen she found in her AT-AT. But what should she say? "Hi, I'm Rey, your soulmate. I'm a scavenger stuck on Jakku and I can't leave until my family returns, so I guess I'll never see you?" As if.
1. Chapter 1

Rey did not have a soulmate- at least not one who tried to communicate with her. Sometimes she would think about it, consider using an old pen she found in her AT-AT. But what should she say?

"Hi, I'm Rey, your soulmate. I'm a scavenger stuck on Jakku and I can't leave until my family returns, so I guess I'll never see you?"

As if. She knew proper names would turn to smears of ink on thier arm.

Still, she had kept the pen. One day, she told herself. With her family beside her, she would write hello in every langue she knew. The would celebrate with her if there was an answer, comfort her if there wasn't. And if something changed, if her soulmate asked, she would answer. If not... Well, she knew from experience it was easier to say goodbye to someone you had never met.

* * *

Finn did not have a soulmate. That was for the best, he knew. Slips had one, one who had left swirled doodles of flora and little hellos on his left arm. Slips had been terrified at first, trying to figure out what his body was reacting to. His was the first in thier squadron to contact them. The Nurse Captain Gorns had taken Slips away for a while, then he had gone through reconditioning.

A few weeks later, the words "I'm sorry. I love you" has appeared in red on Slips hand. He had washed it away before Gorns had seen it.

Three had nicked a pen off an engineer to answer his when the first message had arrived. No one knew what he had said, but he never got another message. Nine had taken it off Three, to scrawl a premeptive warning to his. The pen had been passed around the squad. Finn- or, rather, FN-2187 - had not been given it. Better that way he had told himself that night. How do you even say goodbye to someone you had never met?

* * *

Finn didn't think about it when he was on Jakku. Not the first time, not the second. He was too busy thinking of breathing. Of Slip. Of all the innocent villagers. Of the Pilot he had to break out. Then, he was too busy thinking of Water. Of the Droid. of all the troopers that would be sent after him. Of the Pilot whose mission he had to finish.

On the stolen ship he had time to think. He wandered off to a bunk room. There was a pen on the floor. He thought about it. Once the Droid and Rey where safe with the resistance, he could disappear. Work a while now the outer rim. If the resistance won, maybe he'd even go farther than that. He could find his soulmate. He thought about it for a while, but once he decided, he immediately picked up the pen and took off Po- His jacket. Rolling up his sleeve, he wrote a shaky "Hello".

Finn paused. What else to say? Well, apologies where in order, he supposed.

"I'm sorry I took so long to write you. I was in a bad place, it was dangerous. If you aren't mad at me, please write back. Oh, I'm Finn by the way."  
He nodded to himself. He didn't want to put his soulmate in danger, but he still explained himself. He brought the pen to his skin to say goodbye, then stopped again. It seemed to early to say "love you," especially as they hadn't met yet. And "Good bye" seemed too final. He settled on "see you later". Now that was good.

He stared at his arm, daring to hope a little bit again. The ship shuddered, and Rey cursed.

"Finn! We have a problem!"

* * *

Rey nodded at Solo, leaving the cockpit. She needed to use the fresher. She looked at the cracked and slightly blue tinged mirror she wiped at he face, enjoying the water while using as little as possible. Deciding to shake the sand out of her armwraps -Solo had muttered something about never getting the sand out of the inner mechanics of the ship- Rey began to unravel them. She stopped halfway.

There were words.

* * *

 **AN: Hey guys, what do you think of this little au I though of? it might stay a one shot, but I think I want to finish it. What do y'all think? it may or may not be the ship you think it is... (Spoilers!)**

 **if you liked this I have another star wars fic, Pools In The Current.**

 **or some X-Men stuff too.**

 **You guys are awesome!**

 **Please Leave A Review! With LOVE! - Pocket Rambler**


	2. Chapter 2

Rey stared at the words, no sure what to say. What to think, what to write.

Apparently her soulmate regretted no contacting her sooner. She wasn't sure if she agreed or not. it had been so much easier to hope that once her family was back, once they left Jakku behind, then she could travel he galaxy and find her other half. After. But the universe never really cared for what Rey wanted.

There was a smudge of ink, apparently whoever it was didn't know you couldn't say your name, or any name. She didn't realize what a smudge would have really looked like- she didn't think it was very long, but whenever she focused on it, it seemed to stretch and swirl then shrink to a dot. She looked away.

She traced the final lines. Her soulmate had no said much she could respond to, no questions like, "So how has your entire life been?"

No "I Love You" either, though she was thankful for that. But how did she answer what _was_ written?

She tapped her arm for a bit, then got an idea.

* * *

Finn felt something on his arm. He scratched it, before realizing that was where he had written o his- had his soulmate answered? He jumped off the bench, startling BB-8.

"Sorry, I need to use the 'fresher." He said as he walked as fast as possible without running out of the room. He almost ran into Rey on the way.

"Oh, I'm sorry." He said, very apologetic. Rey was his one friend, she was pretty- awesome. Pretty awesome. Because he had a soulmate and he would not be one of those guys.

"You're fine, really." Rey said, smiling. She seemed distracted, but he didn't want to bug her.

Once the door was safely closed, Finn rolled up his sleeve. He paused long enough to wonder if he needed to hide it anymore. Was it okay to show others words to others? Was it private between couples? Did it change depending on other facts? He just didn't know. He decided he would figure it out, but not show it to anyone yet. He had learned years ago that it paid to be overly cautious.

Looking at the words, Finn smiled.

"Hello. I can't see your name, sorry."-here the other had drawn an apologetic face- "What do you like to do?" and a smiling face! The words did not look like they had been written with an ink pen. They were more painted on with some simple light brown color. He traced the words, happy but also thinking. His seemed to point to his soulmate not being in the core, and probably more outer rim than inner. Well, that made finding them harder but staying safe from the Order easier.

He frowned, realizing that he would probably have to wash off all the words from both of them to have room to write back. But that means we can fill up that space again and again, he remined himself, content again. He turned on the sink.

* * *

"We are almost there." Han told Rey as she sat back down in the chair behind him. She nodded, then thought of something.

"Um, do you have a pen? Like, an ink one?"

Han blinked, not expecting that. He smiled sadly, remembering his own soulmate. That was what ink pens where used for most of the time, and she didn't have any paper to suggest something else.

He opened a small compartment, and tossed her one- making sure it wasn't the silver one that matched Leia's. he was glad he had stored them down there, or else they would have been lost one of the many times the Falcon had been stolen.

"Sure kid, here ya go." He wasn't going to ask- he had learned from that mistake long ago.

Rey looked at the new message. Apparently, her other half was a decent fighter, who had spent most of his time trying to survive. He was sure he like the sensation of flying- not piloting, but being in a soaring ship. (After meeting Finn she felt it was a he. She banished the reasoning from her mind.)

Well, they were suited for each other then. She wrote back that she understood the fight to just see another day, and that she loved piloting. "Perhaps one day I can fly you somewhere." She wrote, blushing at the sappiness. Within minutes, she got a reply.

"Oh, I'm sorry you've been through that. It's funny you are a pilot, I'm surrounded by them now. But I'd love to fly with you sometime." With a little happy face.

Why was he with a bunch of pilots? Rey frowned, before she realized. Maybe he was in the resistance- a fighter in a group with lots of flyers. It fit, and she was sure her soulmate wasn't First Order. Well, she hoped not.

"Oh, are you in an ORDER or some group that RESISTS them perhaps?" she wrote, proud of herself for that one.

"DEFINETLY the second one. Well, I help them out. When I'm done with this, I'll try to find you."

Rey was stumped again. So whoever he was, he was a resistance sympathizer, if not a member. That was good. He was looking for her. That was not- or, she didn't think it was. First, she wasn't on Jakku, so neither he nor her family could find her if they looked there- and her family definitely would. It was also dangerous traveling the Outer Rim (though he seemed to be able to take care of himself) and it could take life times for him to finally get to looking for her on Jakku.

"Ok, but I'm off-planet for a short trip right now. I'll be back soon though. Tell me when you're coming, I'll have a ship ready. If I don't find you first :p ." she couldn't tell him about her family, but she didn't want her to check Jakku while she wasn't there.

She hadn't even met him yet, but she still didn't want to miss him any longer than needed.

* * *

 **AN: AWE, someone(s) falling in loooovvee...**

 **they are such nerds. I love them.**

 **tell me what you think, ive also updated my longer SW story, so go check it out!**


	3. Chapter 3

Han and Rey walked out onto the planet. Rey was amazed. Everything was so green and wet and cool. It smelled alive.

"Chewie and I could use a second mate." Han said, looking at her. Wait, were they offering her a job? She could fly the _Millennium Falcon_ , she wouldn't have to scavenge or- oh. But, she thought about her family. She thought about the man who wrote on her arm, hoping that she came back planetside.

"I can't. I've been away too long as it is." She answerd, looking away. Han thought that would be the case. He didn't ask who he was waiting for- whether is was her Force kriffed soulmate or the woman who had left her on that dead rock. He didn't think either deserved her waiting for them.

 _You don't think Leia deserves you either_ … a traterous voice muttered in his mind. He shoke it off, rubbing his own arm.

* * *

"They will give you passage to the outer rim in exchange for work." Maz Katana said, pointing to a couple of traders across the cantina.

The outer rim- he could find the person writing the cute faces all over his arm. They could be safe. He looked to Rey.

"Come with me." He asked her. She could go back to Jakku, or maybe help him find his soulmate. They could all be safe, together. He, his love, and his best friend. He had already lost Poe, he wasn't going to loose her.

But Rey said no. Of course, she wanted to keep helping the resistance. He wished he could be that good. He didn't deserve her. Or his soulmate.

He picked up a box, trying not to think of that.

* * *

Rey ran with BB-8, blaster at the ready. She had told Finn off for leaving, but she was a hypocrite. That was all she wanted to do. she told herself that she could go back home once she made sure BB was on D'Qar. She might even meet her soulmate on the Resistance base.

She knew deep down that wasn't likely, even less so now that the First Order was here.

She wished she had gone with Finn while they had the chance.

But that wasn't going to happen now. All she could do was make sure BB made it out of here. So she knelt by the droid and told it as much.

When the red blade- a light saber blade- was placed near her neck, she froze. Well, she knew she wasn't getting out of here. But maybe he would. She didn't know which "he" she meant

When she passed out, her last thoughts where "I'm sorry Mom. I'm sorry Soulmate."

* * *

Ren stared at the girl in the chair, thinking. Her signature was so strong with the force. And he knew somehow she held the clue to his u- to Skywalker's location.

She was beautiful, he mused as he thought of plans for attacking, for rebuilding the Sith Empire. She was so powerful. But there was so much light.

In her sleep, her right hand ghosted along her left arm. He drew upon the Force and looked closer, then became furious. Of course. Of course she had a Force kriffed soulmate. And of course it wasn't him.

He restrained her arms as well, making sure to mask his anger. He didn't want to wake her yet.

As his hand gripped where she had written to someone in hope. In love. He didn't know who this person was- and he didn't think she did either- but he knew that they did not deserve her.

* * *

 **AN: AYE Kylos here! and yes, they still don't know who their soulmate is. and yes, both Han and Kylo had similar lines on purpose. and yes, I would LOVE a review, thank you so much!**


	4. Chapter 4

"You mean the murderers, traitors, and other thieves you call friends?" The masked man asked Rey. "You'll be pleased to know I have no idea where they are."

Rey didn't let herself show it, but she smiled inwardly with relief. Then she remembered where she was. The man could be lying. Either way, he wanted her and Finn dead. Either way, he'd killed before. Back on Jakku, Rey could never stand the murderers.

What would your soulmate think? He asked, tilting his masked face slightly to the side.

Rey narrowed her eyes.

"You still want to kill me." He continued. Well, was it a surprise? Even on Jakku, no one brought up or threatened Soulmates. If you were lucky enough to find yours on the sandy rock, it wasn't for any scavenger to take them away from you. And if you didn't, it was an empty threat.

But Rey knew that from this ma, the threat was anything but empty. She could feel the darkness and the loathing practically roll off him.

"That's what happens when you are being hunted by a creature in a mask." She spat out.

The man stood and reached up, clicking something on his helmet. It slid off.

Oh.

That hadn't been what she expected.

A man with pale skin and dark hair, in his late 20s. His face was just found and plain enough to fit anywhere, his features just distinctive enough to be memorable.

"Interesting." He said, placing the helm in a tray of ashes. "Tell me about the Droid you found."

Well, it all came back to little BB, didn't it?

"It's a BB model, make 8, with an inter-"

"It's carrying a map to Luke Skywalker."

Rey almost told him he shouldn't have asked if he already knew the answer. She didn't.

"The First Order has the other segment, scavenger from old Empire records, but we need the last piece. And you somehow managed to get it to show it to you."

She had not known this, Rey mused. Why had the old Empire have a map to Skywalker's hiding spot? He had disappeared long after he ended them. Also, she was fairly sure she had never seen the map- but let's not tell him that.

Her silence had apparently been taken as insolence.

The man stepped closer. "You know I can take anything I want." He let his eyes travel her face, to her arm.

Rey clenched a fist. He had a light saber, a weapon of the old Jedi. Hadn't the been able to perform sorcery, look into minds?

"Or maybe you would just tell me. A favor for your Star Heart."

Star Heart. A term for soulmates, rarely used on Jakku, but she knew it. Was this man, this beast, implying...

He traced circles on his arm.

"You don't think it was a coincidence I first wrote to you after I knew you were off that dump of a planet, that I-"

"Liar." Rey spat. How dare he, how dare he sink that low, to claim that he and her had any connection, star lit or not. How dare he.

His face flared into anger, before becoming stoney again in a second.

"Then I'll take it." He pressed his hand to her head, searching.

* * *

Finn stood on the _Millennium Falcon_ , preparing himself. Han could get them onto the base, and he knew the base like the back of his hand.

The last time he had been on the star killer, Slips was alive.

He had made it to the Resistance, Poe was alive!

In the back of the mind, he wondered how Poe had survived a crash, a fire, a track through the desert while a sing bolt had taken out Slips. He had been wearing full gear, it didn't make sense.

Logically he understood, Poe had been ejected miles closer to the outpost, the squadron hadn't expected much resistance from villagers, the facts of a speeding bolt and dehydration added up, but he still didn't like the answer.

2+2 equals one friend alive and one friend dead. All Finn could do now was get Rey out of the base and make sure that list of friends alive didn't take a dip.

Of course, if he couldn't figure out a way to lower the shield, it might anyway. But Poe wouldn't say no to this fight even if he wanted to. And he was the best chance of lowering the shield's. Not a great chance, not even a halfway decent chance, but wasn't completely non-existent either.

Or maybe he was just telling himself that so he would feel better.

He wondered what his soulmate would think of him. A sad little doodle face didn't seem to cover his guilt, and he would hardly any them to worry. He wondered if he really deserves a soulmate- some people didn't have them, he thought.

Well, he doesn't want them to worry. He would write a brief note saying he had one more quick thing to do, then he could start looking, maybe even introduce them to his friend one day.

He didn't want to fade from this other person s arm silently, or with bloody last minute regrets. He wanted to meet this person who was ties to his fate. But first he and Rey had to live that long. He started writing.

* * *

"You're so lonely. So afraid to leave." The man said.

Rey breathed heavily, trying to get him out, get him away. Get him to stop.

"At night, desperate to sleep, you picture yourself on an island, looking out at the ocean."

Get it get out getoutgetout get out!

"Sometimes, you hold your mother's hand. Sometimes, your soulmate's."

Get out get out get out!

"I see it." He softly taunted. " Does this mean you dream of me?"

How dare he, how dare, get out, get out!

"Or..." He trailed off, the almost spat. "Or Han Solo. You feel he's the father figure you never had." He turned so their eyes met. "He would have disappointed you."

"Get out of my head." This time she said it out loud.

He took a strap back, and hope briefly flickered. He steadied his arm. Never mind.

"Now back to that Droid."

Something destructed her, she glanced at her arm. The slow, soft tickle of words being written underneath her armwraps drew a smile. It grew when she realized the Man in front of her 1. Wasn't writing on his arm, and 2. Was furious.

Of course, he wasn't her soulmate. She had known this, but it felt like a nice reassurance. It also fueled her desire to hurt this man, this murderer, this imposter.

Another probe at BB-8's image brought her focus back.

"Don't be afraid, just give me the map." The man said faintly, a rage brewing under his features.

"I'm not giving you anything." Rey scowled, focusing on the probing touch.

Something clicked.

She could feel fear, yes. But it was different. Hers was seeping out into… something. But there was still so much, this man practically glowed with it.

Their eyes locked. His mouth dropped open.

She realized that twisting cords of the emotion where bouncing from each other. She picked at one of them. The man's hand shook.

"You're afraid." She said out loud, untwisting a little rope. Inside was a memory, a ask, a dream. "That you will never be as strong as Darth Vader."

She felt thrown back, and the cords vanished. The man's- Kylo Ren, he called himself in his mind- arm dropped. His wide eyes blinked rapidly. Then he grabbed the mask and strode out of the room.

* * *

 **AN: wow this is a long chapter, comparatively speaking. I really enjoyed it, and it was a great excuse to watch the integration scene on repeat several times.**

 **also, I'm thinking about putting up a harry potter 2-shot, let me know what you think. either photok or tides should have another chapter soon as well, I'm cranking on my free time this weekend.**

 **let me know what you think, or tell me, idk, your favorite flavor of ice cream.**

 **see yall later!**


	5. Chapter 5

Rey crouched against the pillar, holding her breath as a group of troopers passed. She was itching to look at her arm, but she wasn't going to die because of a silly sentiment. She was alive and breathing, and someone whom she loved- or would love? - very much was too. Or had been, before Ren had stormed out and she had tricked- convinced? - her guard to let her go. She absently fiddled with her blaster. It'll be fine, she thought, then ducked down another hallway.

* * *

Finn grinned at Han as he led him, Chewbacca, and Phasma to the nearest garbage compactor. He realized the chrome-plated helmet was focusing on him. He recognized the tilt of head, it was her searching look. Up and down him, focusing on his arms. He fought the impulse to shift the fabric over the words on his forearm- she couldn't see them, and he did want to draw attention to it. It'll be fine, he thought, pushing Phasma ahead.

* * *

Rey pulled herself over the ledge of the walk, thanking her lucky stars no one had seen her precarious climb, and ran for the nearest door. it opened and she reached for her blaster. Weapon drawn, she wandered the corridors, loking for an exit when she turned the corner to find-

Rey gasped. Finn! And Han! And Chewbacca!

"Are you alright?" han asked, absently pushing the nose of Rey's blaster down.

"Yeah." Rey nodded- They were here? She almost couldn't believe it.

"Good." Han mutterd, moving to check the hallway she had come from.

"What happened to you?" Finn took a step closer, worried eyes checking for wounds. "Did he hurt you?"

"Finn, what are you doing here?" It wasn't safe, she thought he had left for the Outer Rim with those merchants, she thought he had left her behind, she thought… how did he know about Kylo Ren?

"We came back for you." Finn said as if it were the simplest thing in the world- as if it was not the least common thing that had ever happened, or rather _not_ happened, in Rey's life. Rey opened her mouth to ask another question when Chewbacca mumbled something.

"What did he say?" the former trooper in from of her asked.

"That it was your idea." Rey breathed, thinking in circles. Finally, finally, someone had come back for her. She felt so happy, but so torn. She almost wished he was somewhere else. She had had very few ideas of how to get off this rock- she was pretty sure it wasn't a ship- when she was alone. Although, if they had brought the Falcon…

But still, someone had come back for her.

Rey had her arms around him before she even realized it, and he was hugging back, holding her as if they had never been apart.

"Thank you." She muttered.

"Thank you." Rey muttered, and Finn couldn't stop from grinning, wondering how her had ever managed to have a friend this… wonderful? Brave? Strong? They all described her, but none of them where right. He decided to think about that later. He wondered if hugging his soulmate- whoever it tunred out to be- would feel this right. Then he felt guilt- it wasn't right to think about a person that way before you met them, he couldn't do that to Rey and he couldn't do that to the person who wrote on his arm.

He didn't want to think about love or destiny or the technicalities of a friendship right now- he needed to get Rey and Han and Chewie to safety. But…

"How did you escape?" he asked, brow furrowed. Not that he doubted she could, but if she had some sort of hacking abilities she had been hiding, it be nice to know right about now.

"I cant explain it, and you wouldn't believe me if I tried." Rey breathed into his ear- he wasn't going to let go yet- and Finn thought. Maybe it was shock? Maybe she had been let go, but that was unlikely.

"Escape now, hug later." Han said, brandishing his blaster. Well, maybe he would let go now, Finn rolled his eyes. He had really gotten to like the man, but this was the first time Rey was willingly holding on to him- physically coming into contact with his body- and he had rather enjoyed it.

Nodding, the two younger Rebels followed Chewie to a lift.

* * *

 **AN: yay! the gangs all back together! which of course means the most heart wrenching scene is up next! YAY!**

 **jk I'm crying. there one, maybe two more chapters left in this fic. until Last Jedi comes out.**


	6. Chapter 6

It was so cold outside. Finn offered Rey his jacket. Rey shook her head, she could barely feel it. She was still reeling from shock. _Han…_

No, don't think about it yet. Not right now, it isn't safe to mourn now. She remembered something similar from when she was 8 or 9. A kinder scavenger who made the mistake of giving Rey food when she was sick. No one gave out food on Jakku- one of Plutt's rules to stay in charge of the outpost. It was for trading only, and he controlled the stock.

"The ships this way." Finn said hoarsely, pointing through the woods. Rey nodded. Don't speak, don't cry, don't think.

The two ran, arm in arm, through the woods.

This was also like Jakku, Rey remembered. But now she didn't snap at Finn to let go. She didn't want to.

Into the woods, down a ridge, around a tree, and-

Kylo Ren.

The figure ignited the kriffing light saber. Rey had really had enough of those.

The two continued to walk slowly forward, arms dropping to their sides.

"We're not done yet." Ren said, hunched over his wounded waist.

"You're a monster." Rey stated, her flat tone barely concealing her anger, her hatred.

"It's just us now. Han Solo can't save you." The knight spat, beating his side. Rey's eyes followed the movement. Blood dripped onto the snow.

Good. She reached for her blaster. Ren's head snapped up, his arm swung. Rey felt herself thrown upward, and hit a tree.

"Rey!" Finn screamed, running to her.

"TRAITOR!" The dark knight screeched, moving toward him.

Rey winced, her eyes darting behind him. ' _Go_ ' she said without speaking.

Finn lowered her back onto the snow. Then he stood, and ignited the saber.

"That lightsaber." Kylo Ren said, closer now to him. "It belongs to me."

"Then come get it." Finn dared, then swung.

* * *

Rey heaved herself up from the snow, wincing. She had waited for the two to leave, but the sounds of the buzzing swords hitting each other was audible. She looked around, and decided to follow the blue and red blurs to her right. As she drew nearer, she could hear Ren's taunts.

"You are a failure, FN-2187!" -What was that? She wondered. Perhaps Finn's old call number.

"A mistake that should have been erased." Ren continued. Then something lower, though Rey could guess it was along the lines of "I'll erase you now." or some other cliché.

Rey moved a bit faster.

She could see flashed of them now, beyond a tree light. She halted.

"That's it. Don't give up too easily." Ren mocked, pressing his saber against the blue one. Then he slashed his upwards, knocking Finn back. The older man turned slightly, beating his waist again. Finn jumped forwards, and the two parried until Finn was pressed against a tree.

Rey wasn't a master swordsman, anything but, but she was sure this fight was not in Finn's favor- he was just barely holding on.

Finn ducked and rolled as Kylo swung at the tree. He tried to turn back to wing at the knight, but Kylo Ren was faster. His swing disarmed Finn, and the blue saber went flying.

Finn tried to turn.

He caught Rey's eyes.

Rey reached out to him.

Kylo swung his saber upward, slicing Finn's back.

Rey gasped, moving forward to catch her friend.

Ren had turned, focusing on the saber in the snow.

Finn's eyes were closed.

But he was breathing.

 _If Kylo Ren gets ahold of that saber, he won't be for long_ , a voice snapped in Rey's head. She nodded, pushing Finn back onto the snow.

I'm sorry, she though. I'll be back.

She stood, and stretched her hand for the saber.

She could feel the dark red sting that was Kylo Ren pulling at it.

It started to move.

Rey willed it to come to her, here, here, here, she thought desperately.

A string of light blue pulled the saber to her in an arch. It almost hit Ren, she noted with some amusement.

* * *

It landed perfectly in her hand. Ren stared at her, wide eyed. He was almost as shocked as her.

Rey ignited it, and charged.

Ren was not so cocky this time, just silently blocking her attacks and driving her backwards. Several times he hit a tree, felling it.

Rey turned, jumping onto s short incline, then around a crag.

Ren attacked to opening, Rey rolled away.

She was losing sight of where Finn lay. Concentrate, Rey!

Trees fell behind her, but not because of either lightsaber. The planet's internal weapon must be unstable.

Kylo Ren still pressed forward without a word. He went for a stab, she blocked it, but was pushed back. She dared a glimpse- a carven was opening in the ground behind her.

She held her blade as a shield, opening for an opening to dart away.

Kylo Ren and Rey were almost nose to nose. The colorful lighting, smoke, and snow fall cast odd shadows on his face.

He leaned harder on the blade, Rey gasped for the effort.

"You need a teacher." Ren spoke for the first time. "I can show you the ways of the Force."

Rey felt those odd strings again, they surrounded him, totally dark. That was right, the force. She slowed her breathing, thoughts calming. She reached for the threads she felt in herself.

They burst into light, and Rey opened her eyes- had they been closed?- and slashed upwards, going behind her opponent.

And now she was driving him backwards, and it felt as natural as her quarter staff. The bright threads started to turn grey.

She saw an opening, and sliced at Kylo Ren's leg. He stumbled, but rose.

He was already moving again, she didn't know how, but she didn't care. She stabbed at his shoulder, landing a hit.

He was still up, but his weapon wasn't. he continued backwards, eyes on her. Rey took a breath.

Then Ren raised his saber again, and Rey lunged- he blocked her once, then moved to block her twice- while her leg came up, kicking him down.

Rey held back, waiting to see if he would stand again. The threads lightened again, and Ren looked up in panic at the change. He swung forward, Rey ducked.

Ren had expected that, and grabbed her lightsaber. Rey jumped for his, pressing it down.

The were face to face again, but this was different. Each was split, trying to pull at both of the lightsabers. The red lightsaber touched the snow, and some of it evaporated. Rey dimly felt the threads around her fade to a darker grey.

Ren's desperation to pull his weapon up slacked his grip on Rey's. She swung upwards around to his saber, severing both's hold on it.

Her enemy distracted, Rey swung her lightsaber without thinking. It whirled around her, hit Kylo Ren, and spun up behind her.

Rey waited. Ren slowly opened his eyes, but she could barely see his left for the long scar now across his face. Unbidden, she saw Han Solo touching that cheek tenderly, maybe half an hour ago.

At the thought, she calmed. The grey threads swirled around her, but she waved them away, and they unraveled to the light, white ones she felt earlier, before disappearing.

"Rey?" a voice sputted somewhere out of sight. Finn.

Rey turned off the lightsaber and ran toward the sound.

* * *

Cheewie was trying to lift Finn into the falcon when Rey found them. She picked up the bowcaster off the ground and followed Cheewie inside. The wookie put Finn on a bed, back up.

Concentrate, Rey reminded herself.

"Is there any first aide stuff on board?" she choked out as she started to gingerly peel away Finn's jacket. Cheewie nodded, then left her alone. Finn was still breathing, but Rey felt like she couldn't.

Soon enough Cheewie was passing her a packet of bacta gel. She could put it along the gash, and bind it close together to let it heal back…

So his black undershirt was pulled away slightly. Rey almost used the entire packet. She tried too, but she knew it would be wasteful- and Cheewie might have opened that wound from earlier.

The slash was too wide for stiches, she frowned as she mused. But it needed to be closed or the bacta couldn't help the skin and tissue grow back together. Hopefully it was only skin and tissue. Rey groaned into her hands, then had an idea. She unraveled one of the armwraps- her left one, the one that covered the words, but that didn't matter tight now, only Finn mattered- and started to rewrap it around Finn's torso. She tied the end of her other one to it and continued. On some planets, this was how they prepared the dead- no, don't think like that, Rey scolded herself.

In the end, the fabric was tight around his middle, hiding the slash and the bacta. There was nothing else she could do- couldn't even give him one of the pain medicine pill, not when he was asleep.

"How long until we get to D'Qar?" Rey asked.

'A score of clickmins' Cheewie roared back.

20 clickmins. Less than half an hour. She could wait that long.

Rey sat on the bunk opposite Finn's, brought her knees to her chest. Tears pricked at her eyes. She didn't want to wait any more.

* * *

 **AN: ONE MORE CHAPTER LEFT FOR THIS MOVIE! and I actually mean it this time.**

 **thank you lovelies for all the follows and reviews and all that jazz, you guys are awesome.**

 **See you next week!**


	7. Chapter 7

"We need a medic!" Rey screamed down the ramp as soon as they landed. Then she ran to help Cheewie with Finn. Well, it wasn't much help, but she needed to be near him. up to the bunk room, down the corridor, off the ramp.

Two medics had pulled a gurney to the Falcon. Cheewie gently placed Finn on it.

He was wheeled away- away from another ship, but not Rey, who kept pace. The medic shot her glances, but her eyes where down on her friend.

"Wait- Finn? FINN!?" voice said from a line of x-wings. Rey was dimly aware of a pilot in an orange suit running up to them.

"Oh, Finn…" He said. Rey looked up at his face- handsome enough, she supposed, with dark curls.

"I'm Poe." He muttered, still looking lost. Looking like she did, probably. "I have to tell the General." He whispered. Come on, BB-8!" He called, then left again. BB-8? So that was the pilot Finn rescued. The one BB belonged to. How odd, to finally meet him.

But hadn't he died? Then why had they gone through all-

Well.

No point thinking like that.

But if Poe could live, maybe Finn could too.

"You'll have to wait here, ma'am." The taller medic said, gently but firmly. Rey nodded, before she understood.

They were inside now, Finn was wheeled through a curtain. There where chairs along the wall. She sat in one. People went in and out in a blur. Someone sat next to her.

"Rey?" the woman asked? Rey turned. The other woman was older, with grey hair and a command uniform. The pilot- Poe?- stood behind her, and BB-8 behind him.

"Can you tell us what happened to Finn?" she asked.

Rey nodded.

"Will you?" the woman said, smiling in that way that only made her seem sadder.

Rey swallowed thickly. "It was… Ren. Kylo Ren."

Poe looked down, and Rey knew he was thinking several ugly curses.

The woman nodded. "Thank you, Rey."

If the smile had made her sadder, then this was ten times that.

But she still stood and left.

Rey could feel the threads around the woman, the General was forcing them to remain white. What strength, the younger woman marveled. Poe sat down.

BB-8 bumped into her leg, and beeped once. Low, sad.

"I know." Rey agreed. She felt the same way after all.

* * *

"You here for Finn?" another medic asked, hours later.

Poe and Rey jumped to their feet.

"Yes."

"Is he okay?"

"Can we see him?"

The medic held up his hands. "Yeah, yeah. Calm down. He is stable now, but not awake. You can see him." The medic held open the curtain, and went down the left passage. The other three followed close behind.

In the open room currently serving as a hospital ward, Rey saw Finn immediately.

A female medic was pulling a sheet over him. she looked up, and smiled at Rey.

"He is stable now." The medic started. Rey nodded edging closer to the bed.

"But, he is comatose. We don't know when he will wake up." The medic finished.

Rey bit back a groan. Poe did not.

"What? He's in a coma?" the pilot demanded.

"Yes. But we are sure he can and will wake up. We just won't induce it- he needs to heal. Now if you'll excuse me, there are other patients I need to tend to." The woman said, though not unkindly. She was just… tired. Rey nodded, then looked back to Finn.

Each bed had a table on one side and a chair on the other. Rey took the chair. Poe leaned on the table.

"You can get some sleep." Poe spoke up. Rey blinked, confused. "Ill take the first watch." Poe explained.

"No. I'm fine. You… you need some sleep more than me." Rey argued. It might have even been true- Poe had to have been up for hours, and he was a fighter pilot just returned from battle.

Poe shook his head, but BB-8 beeped indignantly.

"Fine. I'll be back soon." He sighed, then turned to leave. BB rolled to Rey, its gentle precense was a comfort.

* * *

A few hours later, a nurse came by to change out his bandages.

"Was it you who wrapped him up with the fabric and bacta?" the young man- a boy, really- asked as he pulled out a bandage.

Rey nodded.

"Good thinking, you probably saved his life." The boy smiled, then pulled off the sheet.

The long sleeve, plain white hospital shirt was next.

Rey didn't let herself admire his physique- he was unconscious, it wasn't right, she was the reason he was like this, he-

His arm.

His arm had words on it.

But it looked familiar, and…

A little face, sticking out its tongue.

"If I don't find you first. :p" she wrote that, she looked at her arm, there it was, just above her elbow- and underneath it, more words.

Words not in her handwriting, words in his- in Finn's- hand.

"Hey, I have to take a short detour. My friend is in trouble, but we'll be fine. See you soon. I love you." A heart.

Tears started to form again, and Rey blinked them away.

The nurse looked confused. "I thought you already knew…" he said, looking between their arms. "Oh, I'm not supposed to tell you if you don't know!" he groaned, looking around. No other medic seemed to be watching, he was fine.

Rey slowly took Finn's arm. She traced the letters. It _was_ the same.

Then finally, finally, Rey let herself cry.

* * *

You couldn't cry on Jakku. You would lose too much water, die. You can't cry when you are in a air ship battle. You would lose vision, get blasted, die. You can't cry during an interrogation. You would give you much away, other would die. You can't cry during a lightsaber duel. Too much weakness, you would die.

But you can cry when you are holding your soul mate and you are his and he is yours and he came back for you and you didn't leave him and he will wake up eventually because he said he would and the medic said he would and the little glowing thread between the inky hearts on your arms says he will and then you will have something back.

Love.

* * *

The nurse gently shook her. "I need to do those bandages." He apologized.

Rey nodded, smiling. When the bandages where cleaned, the nurse left and Poe came in, followed by the general, who was carrying a small set of clothes.

Rey was holding Finn's hand and crying and laughing. Poe was concerned- but then he saw the writing, the same heart under both of their elbows.

The General cleared her throat.

"Rey, I think you need some rest. Finn will still be here later today. He would want you to get some rest. And, I need to talk to you about something."

Rey wiped her eyes and stood. She understood. But first…

She bent down, and kissed Finn on the forehead. She closed her eyes, tried to find that thread in him. It wasn't as easy as finding the one wrapped around her heart, but his was close, and..

There it was. Slowly pulsing between his heart and brain, focused on healing. She tied a bit of her own to it, thinking of love and friendship and sacrifice.

"I love you too." She whispered, before standing and moving away to follow the general.

* * *

 **AN: AND THATS THE END!**

 **AWWW!**

 **I'm actually really happy with this ending- to be completely honest, I kinda was starting to hate this story in the middle, but I wanted to know how it ended... so I had to keep writing it, ya know? but I can say IT WAS WORTH IT! I'm so glad all of you seemed to like it, thank you all for your wonderful support**

 **The End**


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